WIP RAAF Spitfire Pilot, Darwin 1943 1/6th scale Naked Army

[Jamie Stokes]

Now all you have to do is scratch build his Fiancee, and a plane to go with it! ;D

Good start so far, I'll be keeping an eye on this to see how you go,

cheers

 

[davidmitchell]

Having seen your large scale figure at Euro Tony ,I'm sure this one will be a stunner as well.


Cheers David

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

Incredibly impressed by these figures Tony, having just studied the range & links you provided. Who's the sculptor behind them? They have done a tremendous job depicting "real" modern era servicemen, nothing fanciful so I can certainly appreciate the popularity of the Bronzes for trophies & gifts.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks Robin, Ken, Steve, Carl, Jamie, Dave and Mike,

I really do appreciate your comments and your encouragement.

Robin, if you have a look at my VBench,you'll see pics of several painted Naked Army figures that I've done. I'd also recommend you have a look at Alan Mackie's VBench.

Alan has probably done more Naked Army figures than any man alive and he's gone an extra step by doing major conversions on many of them too. His sculpting and painting results put my efforts in the shade.

 

[tonydawe]

Hi guys,

Another marathon session tonight, and a few more pics to show you before I collapse into bed.

I've started shading the uniform and the flesh areas. The eyes look OK, but will need more work before I'm happy with them.

Further research has revealed that my friend's uncle, Flying Officer John Woods, flew Spitfire's and Hurricane's with No.3 Squadron RAAF in the Mediteranean and North Africa, against Rommel's desert airforce and the Italian air force over Malta and Greece (not the Japanese as I previously told you.)

Hope you like my progress so far.

 

[ubbi]

Wow !! trhat's really nice Tony, you are doing it in a awesome manner , well done mate !!

cheers

stefano

 

[carpo]

Watching with interest!

Well, its nice to watch a paint job go ahead in such quick time!!!

I won this kit a couple of years ago at a comp in NSW. I am not a WW2 fan but it sits in my collection waiting for a quiet moment between the 10 projects I have on the go at the moment! They really are a nice sculpt.

I know they are available through the Australian War Memorial too so if anyone is after one they really shouldn't be too hard to come by.

I'll definitely be watching this one with interest.
Carpo

 

[housecarl]

Great eyes Tony, you aren't hanging about.
Carl.

 

[John Bowery]

Tony,
Coming along nicely.
Cheers
John

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks Stefano, I'm glad you like it.

G'day Paul, perhaps after seeing this you'll be tempted to drag your Naked Army figure out of the Grey Army and have a crack at it.

Thanks Carl, the eyes aren't finished yet. I still have to add a few dabs of red to the corners of the eyeballs.

Hi John, thanks for your comment mate. It's coming along quickly now that the base coats are on and I can concentrate on the difficult and labourious task of shading and highlighting.

Here's where I finished tonight. I've now shaded the whole figure with a combination of Vallejo sepia shade and GW very dilute chaos black.

In 1/6th scale its important to remember that the contrasts need to be reduced (compared to smaller scales) as the figure creates its own shadows and highlights. The golden rule is that the shading and highlighting decrease in contrast as your scale increases in size. The reverse is also true.

I've added a bottle of Vallejo acrylic next to the figure to give everyone a sense of its size.

Next step is to start on the highlights.

 

[1969]

Bloody hell mate you aint hanging around with this oen are you

The work you have put in so far is looking great and the red stiching on the harness straps looks like it took some patience, looking good mate. I like the alliminium effect you have created with the quick release devise on the chute, what did you use for this ?

I think looking at the last post the left eye as you look at the image could do with some refinment, the iris look slightly triangular compared to the other one, maybe needs rounding off at the bottom left side as you look at it, just a small point mate as it is progressing nicely.

Steve

 

[nautilas]

Hi Tony i have just bought the Tobruk kit so i am looking forward to your progress. roy.uk

 

[nautilas]

Hi Tony looking forward to seeing him finished, i have just bought the Tobruk kit roy.uk.

 

[tonydawe]

G'day Steve, thanks very much for your comments mate. The aluminium effect on the quick release device is simply Vallejo Oily Steel applied in two or three coats.

I agree with your comments about the right eye. I'll fix it up tomorrow. Thanks for your input.

Hi Roy, I'm keen to see what you can do with the Tobruk kit. It has a great face and should make a spectacular piece for your display cabinet.

I've been painting solidly most of today and made some steady progress. I've started highlighting the flesh and uniform areas and given the Mae West life jacket a light coat of Yellow Cadnium oil to enhance the colour.

Although it may look almost complete from a distance, I can assure you I still have a great deal of detailed painting and blending to do. Even so, I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. My last Naked Army figure took me two months to finish, so I'm well ahead of schedule at this stage.

 

[housecarl]

I think that the new owner will be more than happy.
Carl.

 

[pmfs]

Nice one tony

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Coming along nicely Tony....

when you start doing all the blending and shading, then it will be a stunner!

Cheers

 

[alamac]

G'Day Tony,
Looking good so far looking forward to seeing him completed, you'll have fun getting all the subtle highlights on the shorts as well
Al

 

[mil-mart]

Tony, this is just looking great and I will follow with interest.

Cheers Ken

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

I've dusted off my oil paints to give an extra dimension to this figure. The overall effect Oils over acylics) is coming together, and now it's just about doing all the little fiddly bits (and there's lots of them).

Here's my latest WIP pics. Hope you like the changes.